Ping An Insurance annual profit rises 43 pct, above estimates

SHANGHAI, March 20 (Reuters) - Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd , China’s largest insurer by market value, on Tuesday posted a forecast-beating 42.8 percent jump in annual net profit, boosted by strong growth in its life insurance business.

Ping An made a net profit of 89.1 billion yuan ($14.08 billion) in the year ended December 2017, versus an average estimate of 75.5 billion yuan from 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. It was the company’s highest profit since 2003.